Jewish Studies

The Robert M. Beren Department of Jewish Studies

The minimal understanding of the ideal of Torah Umadda is the pursuit of the study of Torah along with secular disciplines, but the highest form of this ideal is a level of integration in which each pursuit enriches the other.

Such enrichment can take place with respect to virtually all fields, but there is no area where the interaction is as intimate and potentially rewarding as in the use of the tools of the academy to enhance one's understanding of the Jewish heritage itself.

Jewish Studies at Yeshiva College are taught with a reverence for tradition combined with the rigorous application of the methodology of the relevant academic disciplines. In short, academic Jewish Studies lies at the heart of YU's mission.

This explains the substantial Jewish Studies requirement in the college curriculum, and it also means that the Jewish Studies major should evoke serious interest on the part of any student whose decision to attend YU is rooted in the desire to attain a broad and sophisticated appreciation of Judaism and the Jewish people.